Amid air sirens blaring but no incoming bombs or people seeking shelter, Biden and Zelensky strolled the streets of Kyiv on Monday morning, celebrating their first anniversary.
I'm afraid the various conflicts in the world right now are really a game of rulers vs peasants. It is the commoners who are dying off. Even if the elites aren't intentionally trying to depopulate the world, they don't care enough about the consequences that Satan can use them quite effectively.
It sure looks like they are trying to kill humanity. CDC saying the experimental COVID shot is on the list of vaccinations for babies 6 months old -- if that's not trying to kill future citizens I don't know what is. Curse them all!
Good thing SleepyCreepy Joe and his organized crime gang is in Ukraine rather than East Palestine, Ohio... Zelenskiy does a great skit with playing piano with his fictitious dong. This is what they all think of YOU:
All of the world is a stage. This theatre is being orchestrated by the Military industrial complex with useful idiots Biden, McConnell and Schumer. While I wonder if in some way Putin is involved in this charade (weakens the US, gets rid of drunk unemployed Russian unemployed conscripts). Ultimately with no weapons left in our arsenal, a doped out electorate and a country split along tribal lines, will anyone be left to fight for its survival?
Excellent question. I live in Texas and do not care to stick around long enough for my worst suspicions to be confirmed - hence, I'm assisting in the effort for a Texas secession.
While a good thought, it is not 1836. The demographics have changed in the state/republic of Texas. Presently the population is 40%, Hispanic, 40%, white and 11% African-American. Therefore it is unlikely that secession would succeed. Even if it did, there are very few if any nuclear weapons in Texas. Most are in the ocean, and in places very far away, controlled by little men who have no moral center, and as Joe Biden implied, would use against traitorous (white) Americans. The best option would be to use the democratic process, even though it is flawed significantly to elect individuals who would put our country and our population first.
I wish politicians would put their populations first. But they don't, do they? They hate us and get elected for their own enrichment. It has nothing to do with the voters anymore.
Good comment as always LuAnn. We used to have unelected bureaucrats running our country, now we have unelected politicians. In the past a politician even though they really didn’t care about “The Huddled Masses”would go to Palestine OH for optics, or would delay a trip to Ukraine for similar reasons. Nothing says “rigged election” more than politicians who don’t worry about their political base.
100% true. It's a trend throughout Western liberal democracies. We are teetering on fascism/totalitarianism. Call it what you want. It gets you to the same place.
And it all starts with local and state governments. I'm amazed how often we get stabbed in the back by those who promise to look out for our best interests (while campaigning) only to ignore us to jump on the latest band wagon after they're safely in office.
I clearly don’t discount it...good luck. in fact, it’s the only state that can do it legally as it is a former republic that joined the union. However, Brexit to Texit are Apples to oranges.
Yes, that IS true...my view (and I don't think it is atypical of most of us so involved), is that we can use Brexit as a model – NOT a template – to formulate a strategy and tactics to our circumstances, here – at the very least, to emulate the same perseverance.
I'd use Texas as it is being used, as a foil against federal power grabs, and also as a hammer on US corporations to behave. They, along with Florida, are doing a great job. They already put a few torpedoes into the ESG movement. Some big banks are re-evaluating their investment strategies.
Nah, way overthinking it. Russia is fighting for what they feel is their survival. It's an existential thing for them. Now, the Davos crowd is the real enemy.
I finally paid for a subscription today, even though I've been reading for a while, because you "checked the last box": Doesn't slobber all over Zelensky. I'm safe from throwing my computer across the kitchen from having to watch people sleepwalking into nuclear war like a bunch of zombie sheep. (I know, lots of mixed metaphors and similes in there.)
We are actually trying to prevent the exchange of tactical nukes being deployed on the battle field. This means Ukraine must hold - and we will spend alot to make sure we don't have to shoot at the Russians ourselves.
And why must Ukraine "hold" to keep from deploying nuclear weapons?
So here is where things go wrong: Putin pretty much has to win in Ukraine to stay in power. He can't take a defeat. Now, if you tell me that Putin is crazy enough to launch nuclear weapons, he will do so if he thinks he's losing, which means losing not only Ukraine but his power. Our continual funding of Ukraine only makes that more likely. So if you really believe Putin is crazy, we're doing the stupidest thing possible by continuing to fund Zelensky.
On the other hand, if you believe Putin is sane, then all he really wants is what he wanted from the beginning, which is a neutral Ukraine that's not purging the ethnic Russians from its population, in which case, our actions have led to the collective deaths of over a quarter million people because *we* sabotaged talks between Zelensky and Putin (this has been proven) and we blew up the only leverage Putin really had to bring the war to an end (the NordStream pipeline--also proven).
Either way you look at this, we're the bad guys here, and Zelensky is our toady, and we'll be lucky if we don't bring on nuclear armageddon.
"And why must Ukraine "hold" to keep from deploying nuclear weapons?"
I thought I would answer separately on this point. We thought, along with the rest of the world, that the Russians were a first world military. And then we saw them perform in Ukraine, and said, what in the hell happened to the Russian military. If Ukraine is conquered, Russia will first go to Moldova, which may end up in NATO before we know it., and then some other NATO countries. This will bring Russia into direct contact with US forces. The ensuing butt kicking and retreat they would receive would be incredibly humiliating. It would be that quick. Here is the fear that Putin would use tactical theater level nukes against us, in response to this humiliation. A long protracted grind in Ukraine doesn't bring about this same situation. Russia will have to attack hard this spring to get the Kershan canals open to Crimea. Otherwise Crimea starves, no water for crops. It is going to be ugly.
And you're telling me with the "intelligence" we have that we didn't know *exactly* Russia's military capability? Of course we did. That's why our "leaders" thought they could get away with it. We would *never* try this with China, and why we've been attacking "backward" Middle Eastern countries. They knew they could create a quagmire. They don't really want Zelensky to win. They just want to launder a bunch of taxpayer money to the military industrial complex, now that we're out of Afghanistan, and Zelensky went along with it.
I looked at your answers. And you are making several assumptions yourself. Your Provens, have not been proven, they are speculation. Your assessment of Putin could not be more wrong, and he has clearly demonstrated that isn't what he is thinking. We can both wonder when he throws in the towel and how he does it. His action do not comport with your assessment. My speculation may prove out incorrect, but your assumptions have already been proven wrong. So looking at your answers above doesn't change what is happening.
We are trying to mess with China right now. We cut off their access to computer chips for the most part. That is pretty much a declaration of war. If they officially side with Russia, we are going to pretty much economically neuter them. And that is not to say the DNC hasn't been on the take from the CCP. They have. But the CCP should have known that the DNC will jettison you as soon as it is convenient.
Of course, some (most?./all?) of the politicians want to get their filthy cut. But they do that with everything the government does - not just Ukraine. So, while the bribery and stuff disgusts me, this is not unique to the Ukraine situation. It's kind of like the joke of "how can tell when a lawyer is lying?" So, when they take their cut of the action for something that makes strategic sense, I'm not worried about the 10% cut. They'd take it for something else.
No one is the bad guy here. Except maybe Putin wanting to expand his borders. I don't see any indication that Putin is in trouble domestically at all. I also believe Putin is sane.
But what you think he wants is not at all what he really wants. He wants you to think that is all he wants. What he really wants is the old Soviet borders to the extent he thinks he can get them - and Ukraine is on the way to them. Moldova will be next - still not a NATO member. But then it will be Poland, and a few other NATO countries. He needs to get to around Warsaw. Of course the Poles probably have different ideas.
Who blew up the pipeline is unknown. Lots of detractors to the Hersch story coming out from both sides of the political spectrum. Realize we are monitoring industrial accidents in Russia, because all the Western technical support has left. It could have blown up because the Russians aren't good at running things. Who knows.
We want Russia to spend its last measure in Ukraine. We will see what happens this spring as to whether that is possible.
"We want Russia to spend its last measure in Ukraine. We will see what happens this spring as to whether that is possible."
So you want me to believe another two diametrically opposed ideas at once: (1) We need to worry about the Russian military making its way across Europe Nazi Germany style, but (2) the Russian military can be depleted in a little over year by a bunch of spunky Ukrainians with US and NATO toys, expensive US and NATO toys. That doesn't make a lick of sense.
Of course we know who blew up the pipeline. If Russia had actually done it, we would "know." That we don't "know" and can't "know" but that no one in any position of knowing took the idea seriously is all the evidence I need that it was not the Russians and was more than likely the US or a proxy of the US.
Don't talk too much about Russian incompetence. The one "spy balloon" China sent over we couldn't shoot down until it had done the complete American tour of sensitive ICBM sites, and then were were sending $20 million jets firing $400K missiles to shoot down science projects and weather balloons.
And you need to read more Greyzone and Aaron Mate. Go look up the Maidan Coup and the Minsk accords, also the Azov Battalion and the Massacre at Odesa. It's quite . . . enlightening.
Finally, as to Putin being the one "bad guy," we have invaded countries with infinitely less "justification" than Putin had. Unless you're willing to accuse the US of imperialism and "border expanding" . . .
Read it all. Bottom line. Putin said I need/want control over the security policies of all of eastern and part of central Europe (the old Soviet Bloc map). Unless you give it to me, I'm not satisfied. His position was and always has been a non-starter. So you can cry for Putin being "wronged", but I'm not buying, and feel exceedingly confident in my position that he wanted more than he could reasonably expect, and so then we started playing dirty political intrigue pool back at him. Everything anyone could accuse us of he is also doing. He is not innocent. Now it is just power politics, old fashioned style. He is holding a very weak hand. We've proven we will give a great deal to an adversary to try and bribe them into the family - see China. Instead, he chose to rob the industrial space, along with his friends. Nice gambit. But now he is in trouble. Just like China, allowing your largest trade partner to get into a trade war with you shows that stupid is a universal human trait.
As to the border. If you want to take issue with US manifest destiny, you certainly can. I would argue that the world was a different place. Were the Indians here first? Yep, and there was someone here before them, and they warred with each other constantly to expand their territory. We showed up and were better than them at a game they were already playing.
If you want to go with situations where we have tried to get friendly people in foreign capitals, of course we have. But we have generally left, if troops needed to do it. We invaded Mexico in the 1840's, taking Mexico City, and left. The last war of any territory acquisition was The Spanish American War of 1898. Post WW2 (and we clearly waited a long time to jump in that with both feet) we also acquired some allies' pacific and Carribean holdings. I do not think you can take a modern day Russia deciding to invade a neighboring country (who has not attacked their own country) as being in any way similar.
I never said Putin was wronged, no more "wronged" than we were when we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan.
I'm not going to convince you; you're not going to convince me. Russia never was going to march over Europe. I know that for a fact. And our intelligence services knew they weren't going to march over Europe, just like they didn't keep going when they went after Crimea. I don't have that short a memory. I also know the long and storied history of US "leadership" lying through their teeth to drag us into conflicts large and small, so my default is they are lying now.
Here however is the problem with not considering this situation as a whole. I never use caps, but here goes: RUSSIA IS A NUCLEAR ARMED NATION. And you and whole lot of people claim that Putin is a crazy mad man that needs to be put in his place. If that is true, then there is *nothing* stopping him from setting a few of them off, us from retaliating, and the whole world from burning. That was the entire point of the arms race.
So you can talk all you want about history and what Putin should and shouldn't be doing, just like I can yammer on endlessly about my rights as a pedestrian in a crosswalk. But if there's a car coming, I'm not going to assume it's going to stop because it's "supposed to," and if it doesn't, I'll find a different way of dealing with it than stepping out into the crosswalk and challenging it to a duel. And that's what you all are doing. You're challenging a *nuclear armed superpower* to a duel. How do you actually think that ends?
Both sides are bad guys. Putin and Zelensky are both thugs and murderers. Don't foget that Zelensky is playing the U.S., NATO and any other entity or country for more money and weapons to keep this forever war going. No good upsides for me.
Yeah, I should have said there are no good guys. I was clumsily trying to say there is no real bad guy here, though Putin did invade a sovereign country here.
We want to keep the war going, as I have noted, for legitimate long term strategic goals.
We could end it all right now, simply by cutting off any more $...If Ukraine falls to Russia, so be it. This isn't our war, it never was. The US has no national or strategic interest in Ukraine – Biden, and the rest of the globalists do, Ukraine is their money laundromat. Let THEM each come to the aid of Ukraine, and let us get after holding the Biden crime family, the Turtle, Chuckie, Nanshee, and the rest to account. Impeachment, or other means, I don't care.
As I have continued to point out. We have a very significant strategic interest in Russia expending itself in Ukraine. As for a money laundromat, nothing unusual about this. Make sure we stop Medicare, and all defense spending. The pols are getting rich off of them both.
NATO and the U.S. with nuclear weapons right on Russia's border is more than Putin's ego. It is a direct threat to Russia. It would be comparable to China drawing Mexico, Cuba and the Bahamas into a security Pact against the U.S. mainland.
The borders of Eastern Europe have been in dispute for centuries. Poles hate the Germans (even before WWII), Ukraine and Poland have a history of bloody animosity. Finland blockaded Leningrad (St. Petersburg) from the west while Germany starved the city for 3 years.
Only Diplomacy and Good Faith will solve the Ukraine Quagmire. And Washington DC killed Diplomacy and Good Faith a long, long time ago.
Jim Jones is selling you the same old Koolaid. Take another big gulp.
America's dirty elite, like the dying days of Rome, are stripping America bare, by their endless and futile wars. What country in the past 5 decades has the U.S. grubby MIC invaded and has had their circumstances improved? Zero.
NATO is a Military Alliance funded and controlled by DC to keep Germany occupied. Did you notice not a peep from the German Government when ol' Joe put on his frogman suit and blew up the German end of the Nord Stream pipeline?
Russia, for all her faults, and there are many, needs NATO to stop the Nuclear Weapons advances towards Russia's Western Border.
Joe, Ms. Lindsey, McConnell want to keep the dirty money laundry running in the Ukraine, while enriching themselves and keeping Germany and Russia from concluding mutually beneficial commercial business. Period.
The politicians make money on EVERYTHING the govt does. Not just Ukraine. SO lets shut the whole government down (which in fairness I wouldn't mind). Until then, find a better reason to not want to tie Russia down in Ukraine. Putin wants the old Soviet security borders. Germany screwed up by completing the pipeline. They are probably over as a country as well, no kids, and running out of workers, and now in a serious energy hole.
I would suggest kam, if we want to start calling names, we can certainly do that. But you are coming from a weak position if your only concern is just this type of money laundering. I think the word is called hypocritical, as a start. There are others which are worse. So cease fire? Lol!
Ukraine was created by the Soviet Union, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics after the Revolution of 1917. Until Ukraine was created from nothing by the Communists as a dependent Republic, the equivalent of a U.S. state, there was no Ukraine (which in Slavic languages means "over there").
It has no particular History of its own having been part of the Polish-Lithuanian Empire, the Austo-Hungarian Empire, Romania, Poland again, Germany but most of the east of Ukraine was Russian for years. And much of the Ukraine was part of the Ottoman Empire, until Russia pushed the Ottomans out, including from Crimea.
The desire of the U.S. to warmonger in the Ukraine is solely to weaken Russia. Despite WikiLeaks/CIA nonsense, Russia does not want a bunch of belligerent Poles or Uke Nazis on her borders. And Russia certainly doesn't the other alternative of occupying those belligerents.
And I do not understand how you can just slide over the Minsk accords and the bombing of Eastern Ukraine by the Banderites for the 8 years before Russia said enough.
Money laundering for dangerous U.S. bribed and photographed U.S. politicians certainly is part of the impetus of this war, but not the only motive.
"The desire of the U.S. to warmonger in the Ukraine is solely to weaken Russia."
Yes, it is. Of course it is.
Russia foolishly put our situation in a much starker light - Russia's desire to re-establish the old Soviet boundaries. That's why he took Crimea, Georgia, one of the Stans. It's why he is fomenting dissent in Moldova. It's why he will eventually move on to NATO countries. He violated as many agreements as he signed. His mercenaries started the Donbass mess. He got a stooge elected, to do to Ukraine what he did to Belarus. So we engaged in the tricks and intrigue of international power politics. The fact that Putin over reached is not my problem. Our country now has a vital strategic interest in eliminating Russia's ability to use force to project power. Biden's current appearance in Ukraine strikes me as foolish, but I assume was done to remind Xi of China to tread lightly while he meets with Putin. Vlad is in a tough spot. He has one more call up of troops he can probably do after this spring offensive. Then its all over.
Yet another exhausting day of fake news from Kiev. I am going back to the Russian spelling. Brandon strolling about during air raid sirens. Fake, fake, fake. What the f$$k? Now it looks like China is going to arm (?) and help out Russia. I think it already is, but it looks like it will be stepped up. My head is spinning. We are heading toward a hot war, thanks to our War Pigs. God, I never thought in my life time that any of this would be happening. I want peace to break out and I don't care a whit if it's forced and Ukraine is partitioned. Enough of this madness, please. Let's give peace a chance! (Good Lord, I never thought I would be sounding like this.)
Sadly the only tool in the Poland toolkit seems to be belligerence. By the fact of Geography you would think that Poland would hone their Diplomacy since their 2 neighbors have been extremely patient with their incessant provocations. Recent History notwithstanding.
Yes, that area of the world has had more of its share of battles. Probably as many as any other. And that is what has the Russians spooked I would say.
Putin has no desire to stop. Has he ever stopped? He has looked for weakness whenever he could fine it and expanded. Biden letting the Germans finish the gas pipe line was pretty stupid - it made Putin figure the Germans wouldn't join the coalition and thus break up a united EU response to their Ukrainian adventure. I hold no strong love for any of the politicians in this fight. They all are corrupt.
But let's not try and play some theater of silliness. The Russians have no intention of stopping. Right now we are about at the level of the Donbass holdings. The Russians are getting ready to throw 500,000 more troops into it. Going to get a lot worse. A side benefit, the Chinese may officially throw in with the Russians. That would end all economic ties with China. Despite supply chains pulling out, we still buy a bunch of consumer goods from them. That would sever the last economic link to China.
Aside from the Ukraine Laundromat, what interest does the U.S. have in a country along Russia's border ? Grift and Graft for the few, and pain and blood for the many.
Sending in 80 year old Luca Brasi to the Kiev bar (after getting permission from Putin to leave the railroad tracks alone) must have left Russia quaking.
It's a tough read, but there is a book written in 1776 about the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire that will give you a hint about bluster and over-reaching.
I actually have started to read that twice and never quite got into it!
Our interest is the elimination of Russia as an offensive military force. That is significant. Somewhat smaller - stopping an confrontation between NATO (which is us) and the Russians. Both very significant interests.
All nations have a life span. And ours will too no doubt. But there are many more years to go before we even sniff the dustbin. And Russia and China are at the top of the list of those to go bye-bye. Maybe in my life time, at least as they are currently configured. We are blessed with a few over-riding advantages, which while I would agree we will eventually mismanage into chaos, there is a long way for that to happen. We are not even slightly overextending ourselves here. We are overall in fact retracting our forces - reducing our footprint and withdrawing from all sorts of places. Very unusual for a powerful country to do so. We are economically isolated from much of the world, only 12% of our GDP comes from trade and half of that is from Mexico and Canada. We are no longer even trying to police the sea lanes. I share your fear of the terrible people who lead our country. Thankfully they are so inept there is only so much damage they can do.
I've been writing for 20 years about the insanity of building China into the power that China is now. But the American royalty were, and still are, very comfortable snuggled with their ill-gotten gains from destroying American Manufacturing, while financing China.
The problem is how to uncouple given China supplies a lot more than trinkets now.
Really the biggest issue is electronics. Most of the rest of it we can replicate pretty easily, and in fact are working on that. But cell phones and laptops. They are going to be a problem. Vietnam is enjoying China's problems. Funny, we fought a war in Vietnam on South Vietnam's behalf, which the democrats capitulated on. (Big surprise there). And 50 years later, they are actually very good friends and hate the biggest communist country in the world - China. Go figure.
Manufacturing is coming home - though as manufacturing always does, will look to automate and reduce the need for people. US and northern Mexico facilities will look alot different than what they did in SE Asia.
The criminal enterprise the Biden Bunch is playing both ends against the middle. China and Ukraine have out bid Putin in buying our POTUS. This will not end well for the US.
The BB played the press and Congress like a violin w Biden's show visit. I am beginning to wonder which members of Congress are getting kick backs from Zelensky.
The US need only keep Russia destroying itself in Ukraine without over running the country. The US will, despite the stupidity of her politicians, end up just fine.
Russia isn't playing to the U.S. Media "Shock and Awe" cowboys.
Why is the U.S. stripping all modernized components out of the Abrams, if they truly are all-in with Ukraine?
Want to know how the Ukraine war ends? Look to that great, impressive Victory in Afghanistan. Afghani women would like to thank Biden for their new enslavement and China would like to thank you for the new Military base.
The Abrams are being stripped because some of that stuff is still classified. We don't give it to anyone. The war will end when either Russia overwhelms them with superior numbers - or they get so bogged down that they will finally accept some negotiated settlement that gives Ukraine a fair amount of their land back.
I am aware of the desire to not let certain stuff slip into Russia's hands. My only point is Ukraine is being told to fight to the last Ukrainian while being handed the very best sword and spear from the tool kit.
Unlike the U.S.A. mainland, Russia has invested a generations of blood to preserve her lands, and even if they get pushed into a Nuclear War by the PeeWee Hermans in DC, Russia will not lose.
In terms of Russia being invaded by Ukraine, yeah that won't happen. In terms of her occupying Ukraine, Russia still has excellent chances to win.
But Russia long term doesn't have the bodies to defend what she has now. Drastically falling populations. This big military call up - I've seen numbers as large as 700,000 troops - will be one of the last she can ever do. Russia has nukes, so in a panic to defend the motherland she could choose to use them. But the only power who could easily defeat Russia is us. And we have no desire to do so. We'd prefer they punch themselves out in Ukraine.
Soon you'll be hearing about a corkscrew landing and how he had to run to avoid sniper fire.
Was typing mine when you posted this!
The poll didn’t list my first choice - Biden should next go to hell, before he has more time to take the rest of us with him.
He can't get there fast enough. That man disgusts me.
he's horrid, but i know of no one else in his party who is significantly better
Brandon still needs to get shoved out of the way.
Zelensky is the media darling/ SBF lookalike of the gullible liberal media industrial complex as well as NATO. And McConnell looks ridiculous.
McConnell doesn't just look ridiculous, he is ridiculous. He is a bird of the feather as Biden.
"We did so some hours before his departure for deconfliction purposes."
What the hell is deconfliction? It really IS Orwell's, "1984" - new language of new words that have absolutely no meaning.
I'll fix the mistake. It is Orwellian
What mistake would THAT be? It was part of the quote from the WH spokesentity, yes?
Huh?
I’m sure the liberal on-line dictionaries added the word as soon as Sullivan invented it.
Of course...
I'm afraid the various conflicts in the world right now are really a game of rulers vs peasants. It is the commoners who are dying off. Even if the elites aren't intentionally trying to depopulate the world, they don't care enough about the consequences that Satan can use them quite effectively.
It sure looks like they are trying to kill humanity. CDC saying the experimental COVID shot is on the list of vaccinations for babies 6 months old -- if that's not trying to kill future citizens I don't know what is. Curse them all!
Even the EU makes that illegal.
May God reveal to them what they really are!
...not that they'll recognize themselves...
Biden should go to jail as well as every politician sending money to Ukraine before working on our economy and borders at home.
Good thing SleepyCreepy Joe and his organized crime gang is in Ukraine rather than East Palestine, Ohio... Zelenskiy does a great skit with playing piano with his fictitious dong. This is what they all think of YOU:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbmZrzN3WFE
...and we're giving that clown (with apologies to genuine clowns everywhere), all that $...it is infuriating.
All of the world is a stage. This theatre is being orchestrated by the Military industrial complex with useful idiots Biden, McConnell and Schumer. While I wonder if in some way Putin is involved in this charade (weakens the US, gets rid of drunk unemployed Russian unemployed conscripts). Ultimately with no weapons left in our arsenal, a doped out electorate and a country split along tribal lines, will anyone be left to fight for its survival?
Excellent question. I live in Texas and do not care to stick around long enough for my worst suspicions to be confirmed - hence, I'm assisting in the effort for a Texas secession.
While a good thought, it is not 1836. The demographics have changed in the state/republic of Texas. Presently the population is 40%, Hispanic, 40%, white and 11% African-American. Therefore it is unlikely that secession would succeed. Even if it did, there are very few if any nuclear weapons in Texas. Most are in the ocean, and in places very far away, controlled by little men who have no moral center, and as Joe Biden implied, would use against traitorous (white) Americans. The best option would be to use the democratic process, even though it is flawed significantly to elect individuals who would put our country and our population first.
I wish politicians would put their populations first. But they don't, do they? They hate us and get elected for their own enrichment. It has nothing to do with the voters anymore.
Good comment as always LuAnn. We used to have unelected bureaucrats running our country, now we have unelected politicians. In the past a politician even though they really didn’t care about “The Huddled Masses”would go to Palestine OH for optics, or would delay a trip to Ukraine for similar reasons. Nothing says “rigged election” more than politicians who don’t worry about their political base.
100% true. It's a trend throughout Western liberal democracies. We are teetering on fascism/totalitarianism. Call it what you want. It gets you to the same place.
And it all starts with local and state governments. I'm amazed how often we get stabbed in the back by those who promise to look out for our best interests (while campaigning) only to ignore us to jump on the latest band wagon after they're safely in office.
I love it when people discount the movement and the determination of those involved. I'm sure that smart people discounted Brexit, too. We'll see.
I clearly don’t discount it...good luck. in fact, it’s the only state that can do it legally as it is a former republic that joined the union. However, Brexit to Texit are Apples to oranges.
Yes, that IS true...my view (and I don't think it is atypical of most of us so involved), is that we can use Brexit as a model – NOT a template – to formulate a strategy and tactics to our circumstances, here – at the very least, to emulate the same perseverance.
I'd use Texas as it is being used, as a foil against federal power grabs, and also as a hammer on US corporations to behave. They, along with Florida, are doing a great job. They already put a few torpedoes into the ESG movement. Some big banks are re-evaluating their investment strategies.
I'd rather Texas use its resources for Texas. I don't relish doing the other states' dirty work.
For better or for worse. The Union is worth saving.
I would most respectfully agree to disagree in an agreeable manner.
Nah, way overthinking it. Russia is fighting for what they feel is their survival. It's an existential thing for them. Now, the Davos crowd is the real enemy.
No one can touch us militarily. Not even close.
Yes, Davos crowd is the enemy.
Short answer: No.
Xiden had another Corn Pop moment, this time in Kiev.
Also, Xiden has now one-upped Rodham and her claim of landing under sniper fire in Bosnia. The sirens were really sounding for all the world to hear.
Exactly, a total fake news event. I am reverting to the Russian spelling of Kiev.
I finally paid for a subscription today, even though I've been reading for a while, because you "checked the last box": Doesn't slobber all over Zelensky. I'm safe from throwing my computer across the kitchen from having to watch people sleepwalking into nuclear war like a bunch of zombie sheep. (I know, lots of mixed metaphors and similes in there.)
Welcome aboard!
We are actually trying to prevent the exchange of tactical nukes being deployed on the battle field. This means Ukraine must hold - and we will spend alot to make sure we don't have to shoot at the Russians ourselves.
And why must Ukraine "hold" to keep from deploying nuclear weapons?
So here is where things go wrong: Putin pretty much has to win in Ukraine to stay in power. He can't take a defeat. Now, if you tell me that Putin is crazy enough to launch nuclear weapons, he will do so if he thinks he's losing, which means losing not only Ukraine but his power. Our continual funding of Ukraine only makes that more likely. So if you really believe Putin is crazy, we're doing the stupidest thing possible by continuing to fund Zelensky.
On the other hand, if you believe Putin is sane, then all he really wants is what he wanted from the beginning, which is a neutral Ukraine that's not purging the ethnic Russians from its population, in which case, our actions have led to the collective deaths of over a quarter million people because *we* sabotaged talks between Zelensky and Putin (this has been proven) and we blew up the only leverage Putin really had to bring the war to an end (the NordStream pipeline--also proven).
Either way you look at this, we're the bad guys here, and Zelensky is our toady, and we'll be lucky if we don't bring on nuclear armageddon.
"And why must Ukraine "hold" to keep from deploying nuclear weapons?"
I thought I would answer separately on this point. We thought, along with the rest of the world, that the Russians were a first world military. And then we saw them perform in Ukraine, and said, what in the hell happened to the Russian military. If Ukraine is conquered, Russia will first go to Moldova, which may end up in NATO before we know it., and then some other NATO countries. This will bring Russia into direct contact with US forces. The ensuing butt kicking and retreat they would receive would be incredibly humiliating. It would be that quick. Here is the fear that Putin would use tactical theater level nukes against us, in response to this humiliation. A long protracted grind in Ukraine doesn't bring about this same situation. Russia will have to attack hard this spring to get the Kershan canals open to Crimea. Otherwise Crimea starves, no water for crops. It is going to be ugly.
Again, see all my answers below.
And you're telling me with the "intelligence" we have that we didn't know *exactly* Russia's military capability? Of course we did. That's why our "leaders" thought they could get away with it. We would *never* try this with China, and why we've been attacking "backward" Middle Eastern countries. They knew they could create a quagmire. They don't really want Zelensky to win. They just want to launder a bunch of taxpayer money to the military industrial complex, now that we're out of Afghanistan, and Zelensky went along with it.
I don't think our Intelligence agencies have been that good for years and now with diversity and equity taking center stage, you can forget it.
I looked at your answers. And you are making several assumptions yourself. Your Provens, have not been proven, they are speculation. Your assessment of Putin could not be more wrong, and he has clearly demonstrated that isn't what he is thinking. We can both wonder when he throws in the towel and how he does it. His action do not comport with your assessment. My speculation may prove out incorrect, but your assumptions have already been proven wrong. So looking at your answers above doesn't change what is happening.
We are trying to mess with China right now. We cut off their access to computer chips for the most part. That is pretty much a declaration of war. If they officially side with Russia, we are going to pretty much economically neuter them. And that is not to say the DNC hasn't been on the take from the CCP. They have. But the CCP should have known that the DNC will jettison you as soon as it is convenient.
Of course, some (most?./all?) of the politicians want to get their filthy cut. But they do that with everything the government does - not just Ukraine. So, while the bribery and stuff disgusts me, this is not unique to the Ukraine situation. It's kind of like the joke of "how can tell when a lawyer is lying?" So, when they take their cut of the action for something that makes strategic sense, I'm not worried about the 10% cut. They'd take it for something else.
No one is the bad guy here. Except maybe Putin wanting to expand his borders. I don't see any indication that Putin is in trouble domestically at all. I also believe Putin is sane.
But what you think he wants is not at all what he really wants. He wants you to think that is all he wants. What he really wants is the old Soviet borders to the extent he thinks he can get them - and Ukraine is on the way to them. Moldova will be next - still not a NATO member. But then it will be Poland, and a few other NATO countries. He needs to get to around Warsaw. Of course the Poles probably have different ideas.
Who blew up the pipeline is unknown. Lots of detractors to the Hersch story coming out from both sides of the political spectrum. Realize we are monitoring industrial accidents in Russia, because all the Western technical support has left. It could have blown up because the Russians aren't good at running things. Who knows.
We want Russia to spend its last measure in Ukraine. We will see what happens this spring as to whether that is possible.
"We want Russia to spend its last measure in Ukraine. We will see what happens this spring as to whether that is possible."
So you want me to believe another two diametrically opposed ideas at once: (1) We need to worry about the Russian military making its way across Europe Nazi Germany style, but (2) the Russian military can be depleted in a little over year by a bunch of spunky Ukrainians with US and NATO toys, expensive US and NATO toys. That doesn't make a lick of sense.
Of course we know who blew up the pipeline. If Russia had actually done it, we would "know." That we don't "know" and can't "know" but that no one in any position of knowing took the idea seriously is all the evidence I need that it was not the Russians and was more than likely the US or a proxy of the US.
Don't talk too much about Russian incompetence. The one "spy balloon" China sent over we couldn't shoot down until it had done the complete American tour of sensitive ICBM sites, and then were were sending $20 million jets firing $400K missiles to shoot down science projects and weather balloons.
And you need to read more Greyzone and Aaron Mate. Go look up the Maidan Coup and the Minsk accords, also the Azov Battalion and the Massacre at Odesa. It's quite . . . enlightening.
Finally, as to Putin being the one "bad guy," we have invaded countries with infinitely less "justification" than Putin had. Unless you're willing to accuse the US of imperialism and "border expanding" . . .
Read it all. Bottom line. Putin said I need/want control over the security policies of all of eastern and part of central Europe (the old Soviet Bloc map). Unless you give it to me, I'm not satisfied. His position was and always has been a non-starter. So you can cry for Putin being "wronged", but I'm not buying, and feel exceedingly confident in my position that he wanted more than he could reasonably expect, and so then we started playing dirty political intrigue pool back at him. Everything anyone could accuse us of he is also doing. He is not innocent. Now it is just power politics, old fashioned style. He is holding a very weak hand. We've proven we will give a great deal to an adversary to try and bribe them into the family - see China. Instead, he chose to rob the industrial space, along with his friends. Nice gambit. But now he is in trouble. Just like China, allowing your largest trade partner to get into a trade war with you shows that stupid is a universal human trait.
As to the border. If you want to take issue with US manifest destiny, you certainly can. I would argue that the world was a different place. Were the Indians here first? Yep, and there was someone here before them, and they warred with each other constantly to expand their territory. We showed up and were better than them at a game they were already playing.
If you want to go with situations where we have tried to get friendly people in foreign capitals, of course we have. But we have generally left, if troops needed to do it. We invaded Mexico in the 1840's, taking Mexico City, and left. The last war of any territory acquisition was The Spanish American War of 1898. Post WW2 (and we clearly waited a long time to jump in that with both feet) we also acquired some allies' pacific and Carribean holdings. I do not think you can take a modern day Russia deciding to invade a neighboring country (who has not attacked their own country) as being in any way similar.
I never said Putin was wronged, no more "wronged" than we were when we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan.
I'm not going to convince you; you're not going to convince me. Russia never was going to march over Europe. I know that for a fact. And our intelligence services knew they weren't going to march over Europe, just like they didn't keep going when they went after Crimea. I don't have that short a memory. I also know the long and storied history of US "leadership" lying through their teeth to drag us into conflicts large and small, so my default is they are lying now.
Here however is the problem with not considering this situation as a whole. I never use caps, but here goes: RUSSIA IS A NUCLEAR ARMED NATION. And you and whole lot of people claim that Putin is a crazy mad man that needs to be put in his place. If that is true, then there is *nothing* stopping him from setting a few of them off, us from retaliating, and the whole world from burning. That was the entire point of the arms race.
So you can talk all you want about history and what Putin should and shouldn't be doing, just like I can yammer on endlessly about my rights as a pedestrian in a crosswalk. But if there's a car coming, I'm not going to assume it's going to stop because it's "supposed to," and if it doesn't, I'll find a different way of dealing with it than stepping out into the crosswalk and challenging it to a duel. And that's what you all are doing. You're challenging a *nuclear armed superpower* to a duel. How do you actually think that ends?
Both sides are bad guys. Putin and Zelensky are both thugs and murderers. Don't foget that Zelensky is playing the U.S., NATO and any other entity or country for more money and weapons to keep this forever war going. No good upsides for me.
Yeah, I should have said there are no good guys. I was clumsily trying to say there is no real bad guy here, though Putin did invade a sovereign country here.
We want to keep the war going, as I have noted, for legitimate long term strategic goals.
The punishment should be peace!
You know, I heard the same thing about Afghanistan and Iraq. I'm sure they were saying the same thing about Vietnam. I think it's all equally untrue.
We could end it all right now, simply by cutting off any more $...If Ukraine falls to Russia, so be it. This isn't our war, it never was. The US has no national or strategic interest in Ukraine – Biden, and the rest of the globalists do, Ukraine is their money laundromat. Let THEM each come to the aid of Ukraine, and let us get after holding the Biden crime family, the Turtle, Chuckie, Nanshee, and the rest to account. Impeachment, or other means, I don't care.
Ukraine is their money laundromat.
Just as Afghanistan was before and Iraq still is. Nothing changes.
As I have continued to point out. We have a very significant strategic interest in Russia expending itself in Ukraine. As for a money laundromat, nothing unusual about this. Make sure we stop Medicare, and all defense spending. The pols are getting rich off of them both.
NATO and the U.S. with nuclear weapons right on Russia's border is more than Putin's ego. It is a direct threat to Russia. It would be comparable to China drawing Mexico, Cuba and the Bahamas into a security Pact against the U.S. mainland.
The borders of Eastern Europe have been in dispute for centuries. Poles hate the Germans (even before WWII), Ukraine and Poland have a history of bloody animosity. Finland blockaded Leningrad (St. Petersburg) from the west while Germany starved the city for 3 years.
Only Diplomacy and Good Faith will solve the Ukraine Quagmire. And Washington DC killed Diplomacy and Good Faith a long, long time ago.
No - it's not. This has nothing to do with NATO. This has to do with Russian insecurity about everything.
Jim Jones is selling you the same old Koolaid. Take another big gulp.
America's dirty elite, like the dying days of Rome, are stripping America bare, by their endless and futile wars. What country in the past 5 decades has the U.S. grubby MIC invaded and has had their circumstances improved? Zero.
NATO is a Military Alliance funded and controlled by DC to keep Germany occupied. Did you notice not a peep from the German Government when ol' Joe put on his frogman suit and blew up the German end of the Nord Stream pipeline?
Russia, for all her faults, and there are many, needs NATO to stop the Nuclear Weapons advances towards Russia's Western Border.
Joe, Ms. Lindsey, McConnell want to keep the dirty money laundry running in the Ukraine, while enriching themselves and keeping Germany and Russia from concluding mutually beneficial commercial business. Period.
The politicians make money on EVERYTHING the govt does. Not just Ukraine. SO lets shut the whole government down (which in fairness I wouldn't mind). Until then, find a better reason to not want to tie Russia down in Ukraine. Putin wants the old Soviet security borders. Germany screwed up by completing the pipeline. They are probably over as a country as well, no kids, and running out of workers, and now in a serious energy hole.
I would suggest kam, if we want to start calling names, we can certainly do that. But you are coming from a weak position if your only concern is just this type of money laundering. I think the word is called hypocritical, as a start. There are others which are worse. So cease fire? Lol!
Ukraine was created by the Soviet Union, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics after the Revolution of 1917. Until Ukraine was created from nothing by the Communists as a dependent Republic, the equivalent of a U.S. state, there was no Ukraine (which in Slavic languages means "over there").
It has no particular History of its own having been part of the Polish-Lithuanian Empire, the Austo-Hungarian Empire, Romania, Poland again, Germany but most of the east of Ukraine was Russian for years. And much of the Ukraine was part of the Ottoman Empire, until Russia pushed the Ottomans out, including from Crimea.
The desire of the U.S. to warmonger in the Ukraine is solely to weaken Russia. Despite WikiLeaks/CIA nonsense, Russia does not want a bunch of belligerent Poles or Uke Nazis on her borders. And Russia certainly doesn't the other alternative of occupying those belligerents.
And I do not understand how you can just slide over the Minsk accords and the bombing of Eastern Ukraine by the Banderites for the 8 years before Russia said enough.
Money laundering for dangerous U.S. bribed and photographed U.S. politicians certainly is part of the impetus of this war, but not the only motive.
My apologies for name calling.
"The desire of the U.S. to warmonger in the Ukraine is solely to weaken Russia."
Yes, it is. Of course it is.
Russia foolishly put our situation in a much starker light - Russia's desire to re-establish the old Soviet boundaries. That's why he took Crimea, Georgia, one of the Stans. It's why he is fomenting dissent in Moldova. It's why he will eventually move on to NATO countries. He violated as many agreements as he signed. His mercenaries started the Donbass mess. He got a stooge elected, to do to Ukraine what he did to Belarus. So we engaged in the tricks and intrigue of international power politics. The fact that Putin over reached is not my problem. Our country now has a vital strategic interest in eliminating Russia's ability to use force to project power. Biden's current appearance in Ukraine strikes me as foolish, but I assume was done to remind Xi of China to tread lightly while he meets with Putin. Vlad is in a tough spot. He has one more call up of troops he can probably do after this spring offensive. Then its all over.
Yet another exhausting day of fake news from Kiev. I am going back to the Russian spelling. Brandon strolling about during air raid sirens. Fake, fake, fake. What the f$$k? Now it looks like China is going to arm (?) and help out Russia. I think it already is, but it looks like it will be stepped up. My head is spinning. We are heading toward a hot war, thanks to our War Pigs. God, I never thought in my life time that any of this would be happening. I want peace to break out and I don't care a whit if it's forced and Ukraine is partitioned. Enough of this madness, please. Let's give peace a chance! (Good Lord, I never thought I would be sounding like this.)
And now Poland, if the news is true, is asking for U.S. troops to be stationed in that country as a buffer against Russia. I feel a hot war coming on.
They are already there.
Correct. Should have said to boost U.S. presence there.
LuAnn:
Sadly the only tool in the Poland toolkit seems to be belligerence. By the fact of Geography you would think that Poland would hone their Diplomacy since their 2 neighbors have been extremely patient with their incessant provocations. Recent History notwithstanding.
Yes, that area of the world has had more of its share of battles. Probably as many as any other. And that is what has the Russians spooked I would say.
I know plenty of good, decent Russian people. Also others that have come from the old Eastern Block countries.
Many of whom now believe the heavy hand of Communism is what we live in now in the West.
Yes, they are rather hard headed, aren't they?
Anne Applebaum, the liberal hawk, and ex-patriot. ...the voice of the Polish hawks.
"Real leaders would stop the carnage."
Putin has no desire to stop. Has he ever stopped? He has looked for weakness whenever he could fine it and expanded. Biden letting the Germans finish the gas pipe line was pretty stupid - it made Putin figure the Germans wouldn't join the coalition and thus break up a united EU response to their Ukrainian adventure. I hold no strong love for any of the politicians in this fight. They all are corrupt.
But let's not try and play some theater of silliness. The Russians have no intention of stopping. Right now we are about at the level of the Donbass holdings. The Russians are getting ready to throw 500,000 more troops into it. Going to get a lot worse. A side benefit, the Chinese may officially throw in with the Russians. That would end all economic ties with China. Despite supply chains pulling out, we still buy a bunch of consumer goods from them. That would sever the last economic link to China.
Aside from the Ukraine Laundromat, what interest does the U.S. have in a country along Russia's border ? Grift and Graft for the few, and pain and blood for the many.
Sending in 80 year old Luca Brasi to the Kiev bar (after getting permission from Putin to leave the railroad tracks alone) must have left Russia quaking.
It's a tough read, but there is a book written in 1776 about the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire that will give you a hint about bluster and over-reaching.
I actually have started to read that twice and never quite got into it!
Our interest is the elimination of Russia as an offensive military force. That is significant. Somewhat smaller - stopping an confrontation between NATO (which is us) and the Russians. Both very significant interests.
All nations have a life span. And ours will too no doubt. But there are many more years to go before we even sniff the dustbin. And Russia and China are at the top of the list of those to go bye-bye. Maybe in my life time, at least as they are currently configured. We are blessed with a few over-riding advantages, which while I would agree we will eventually mismanage into chaos, there is a long way for that to happen. We are not even slightly overextending ourselves here. We are overall in fact retracting our forces - reducing our footprint and withdrawing from all sorts of places. Very unusual for a powerful country to do so. We are economically isolated from much of the world, only 12% of our GDP comes from trade and half of that is from Mexico and Canada. We are no longer even trying to police the sea lanes. I share your fear of the terrible people who lead our country. Thankfully they are so inept there is only so much damage they can do.
Decouple from China commercially, right now. We can buy cheap stuff from other shit holes.
I've been writing for 20 years about the insanity of building China into the power that China is now. But the American royalty were, and still are, very comfortable snuggled with their ill-gotten gains from destroying American Manufacturing, while financing China.
The problem is how to uncouple given China supplies a lot more than trinkets now.
Really the biggest issue is electronics. Most of the rest of it we can replicate pretty easily, and in fact are working on that. But cell phones and laptops. They are going to be a problem. Vietnam is enjoying China's problems. Funny, we fought a war in Vietnam on South Vietnam's behalf, which the democrats capitulated on. (Big surprise there). And 50 years later, they are actually very good friends and hate the biggest communist country in the world - China. Go figure.
Manufacturing is coming home - though as manufacturing always does, will look to automate and reduce the need for people. US and northern Mexico facilities will look alot different than what they did in SE Asia.
The criminal enterprise the Biden Bunch is playing both ends against the middle. China and Ukraine have out bid Putin in buying our POTUS. This will not end well for the US.
The BB played the press and Congress like a violin w Biden's show visit. I am beginning to wonder which members of Congress are getting kick backs from Zelensky.
The US need only keep Russia destroying itself in Ukraine without over running the country. The US will, despite the stupidity of her politicians, end up just fine.
The US is "just fine" ?
Russia isn't playing to the U.S. Media "Shock and Awe" cowboys.
Why is the U.S. stripping all modernized components out of the Abrams, if they truly are all-in with Ukraine?
Want to know how the Ukraine war ends? Look to that great, impressive Victory in Afghanistan. Afghani women would like to thank Biden for their new enslavement and China would like to thank you for the new Military base.
The Abrams are being stripped because some of that stuff is still classified. We don't give it to anyone. The war will end when either Russia overwhelms them with superior numbers - or they get so bogged down that they will finally accept some negotiated settlement that gives Ukraine a fair amount of their land back.
I am aware of the desire to not let certain stuff slip into Russia's hands. My only point is Ukraine is being told to fight to the last Ukrainian while being handed the very best sword and spear from the tool kit.
Unlike the U.S.A. mainland, Russia has invested a generations of blood to preserve her lands, and even if they get pushed into a Nuclear War by the PeeWee Hermans in DC, Russia will not lose.
In terms of Russia being invaded by Ukraine, yeah that won't happen. In terms of her occupying Ukraine, Russia still has excellent chances to win.
But Russia long term doesn't have the bodies to defend what she has now. Drastically falling populations. This big military call up - I've seen numbers as large as 700,000 troops - will be one of the last she can ever do. Russia has nukes, so in a panic to defend the motherland she could choose to use them. But the only power who could easily defeat Russia is us. And we have no desire to do so. We'd prefer they punch themselves out in Ukraine.
Maybe he should just stay home (in Delaware) or start an archeological dig down someplace very, very hot.
Maybe he should dig right down to hell where he belongs.
Interesting sentiment. Hard to argue with.